The price of oil is still climbing, with one report from Clusterstock this morning saying that $200 for a barrel of crude and $6 for a gallon of gas are on their way. Can anyone stop this from happening? One man thinks he has the answer.While speaking at an event last month, the former speaker of the House and epic conservative - Newt Gingrich - tried to explain 3 Ways to Lower Gas Prices. Check out the video here and some thoughts on it after the jump:3 Ways to Lower Gas Prices - Watch more free videosHere's a breakdown of Newt's 3 suggestions:1.) Dump a substantial amount of the Strategic Oil Reserve on the market to punish speculators who have gambled on the market.2.) Look for oil where it is.3.) Maximize production of vehicles using alt fuels. So we've got some harsh attitude on Newt's part on the speculator scapegoat. Does he really wants to destroy hard-working family men like Eric Bolling (the big RBI) from profiting off oil trading? I understand the deal, to come up with a solution you've gotta first point the finger at someone to blame. In this case it's speculators, but aren't there other larger groups responsible?I doubt that dumping 1/3 of the SOR will even deter that many speculators. With a full 2/3 left, would they really stop? And obviously this is just a one time trick that we can pull out of our hat. Not really a permanent solution.Secondly, as we've been talking about lately, the idea of offshore drilling has been popping up a lot. In Newt's epic tales of the Rocky Mountains containing 3 times the amount of oil that Saudia Arabia has, he fails to mention the cost it would take to remove that oil from the ground. If we have a gazillion dollars worth of oil in our backyards, and it costs a gazillion to use it, is it really worth it? Some say that keeping that oil in the ground for future generations is a good idea because it will continue to increase in value (and also hopefully in the future we'll make some high-tech drills that will make it cheaper to actually use).And lastly, Newt tacks on a neat little nod to 'green stuff' like alternative fuels -- something the big three probably should have realized sooner. No one will take you seriously anymore unless you mention something 'green' or environmentally friendly in a public speech (for a good reason).I especially liked Newt's remark (at 2:26 in the video) about the Texas A&M professor who is working on turning garbage into fuel. Might that 'professor' have been Doc Brown from Back To The Future II? (sidenote: Wasn't Marty's big character flaw of not wanting to be called 'chicken' invented out of nowhere for the 2nd and 3rd movies? What's up with that?)Can Newt's policy ideas have a big effect on the price of gas? Let us know your take in the comments section.

Genre: Entertainment

by: Stephen